NMJL card

Descends into

• American mah jongg — 152 tiles, jokers 1961

Cross-comparison

corroborated — two or more independent sources agree on the facts that define this variant

• [1] in 1937 four women, Viola Cecil, Dorothy Meyerson, Herma Jacobs and Hortense Potter, founded the National Mah Jongg League in New York City; nearly 400 women rallied at Manhattan's Essex House hotel to support standardising American rules
• [2] dates the founding to 1937 in New York City, by a group of predominantly Jewish women from the Upper West Side
• [3] dates the founding to 1937 in New York City
• [4] dates the NMJL's start to 1937
• [5] CONFLICT: states that the National Mah Jongg League, Inc. published a volume of 'Official American Rules' in 1935, which predates the 1937 founding date the other four sources give
• [6] RESOLVES THE CONFLICT: the League's own site, selling the 2026 card, describes itself as celebrating 89 years. Counting back from 2026 gives 1937, which is the League's own dating of its founding

Reading it

The conflict is settled. Four secondary sources date the founding to 1937 in New York City, two of them naming the Essex House meeting, and the League's own website now confirms it from the inside: in 2026 it celebrates 89 years, which counts back to 1937. Wikipedia's statement that the League published Official American Rules in 1935 cannot be reconciled with that and should be treated as the outlier; whatever the 1935 publication was, the organisation dates itself from 1937.

Sources

1. MahjongCompare. "Mahjong History and Origin." supporting checked 2026-09-18

   NMJL founders (Cecil, Meyerson, Jacobs, Potter), the 1937 Essex House meeting, and jokers entering the official rules in 1961.

   https://mahjongcompare.com/history

   Also cited on: Babcock rules, Regional US house rules, American mah jongg · bibliography #14

2. The Charleston Club. "The History of American Mah Jongg." cross-check checked 2026-09-18

   Babcock's 1920 translation and the Parker Brothers / Milton Bradley licensing.

   https://thecharlestonclubaz.com/blogs/the-journal/the-history-of-american-mah-jongg-from-1920s-import-to-a-century-old-american-tradition

   Also cited on: Babcock rules · bibliography #16

3. Grokipedia. "American Mahjong." supporting checked 2026-09-18

   Jokers appearing in sets from the 1940s; the NMJL mandate from the 1960-61 season.

   https://grokipedia.com/page/American_mahjong

   Also cited on: Regional US house rules, American mah jongg · bibliography #17

4. The Mahjong Line. "History of the Game." cross-check checked 2026-09-18

   Wright-Patterson origins among Air Force officers' spouses at Wright Field, Ohio.

   https://themahjongline.com/pages/history

   Also cited on: Wright-Patterson · bibliography #15

5. Wikipedia. "American Mahjong." supporting checked 2026-09-18

   Racks, jokers, the Charleston, and the NMJL / AMJA annual card.

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_mahjong

   Also cited on: Babcock rules, Regional US house rules, American mah jongg, AMJA card · bibliography #13

6. National Mah Jongg League, official website. cross-check checked 2026-09-18

   The League's own site. In 2026 it advertises the current card while celebrating 89 years, which dates its own founding to 1937.

   https://www.nationalmahjonggleague.org/

   Only cited here · bibliography #63

7. Mahjong Wiki. "American Overview." mahjong.wikidot.com. canonical

   Cited as the source for individual nodes in the chart's node table. Carries no bibliography or per-claim citations of its own; see the appendix on tracing the wiki.

   http://mahjong.wikidot.com/rules:american-overview

   Also cited on: American mah jongg · bibliography #49